Survey Development

Nothing is more important in business than understanding your customers.

User surveys are typically used for feedback research to determine the current situation, or to better understand the wants and needs of a selected group of people. Writing a survey questionnaire is one of the most critical stages in the survey development process. Much of survey questionnaire construction is common sense, but there are key factors with which surveys should be written to avoid forced responses or data collection that is not accurate.

I have extensive experience planning and implementing complex customer surveys. At the end of the survey period, I can also help you interpret the results so you can make positive changes which benefit your business and improve your customer’s experience.

Some simple tips to ensure the majority of your questionnaires are completed and not abandoned partially way through:

Surveys should be short and to the point. There’s no room for questions outside of your objective.

Decide everything you’re going to ask BEFORE you start the survey. The statistics are not accurate if you start changing the questions. Instead, write them down and include them in your next survey.

Every respondent should be able to answer every question or given an out as to not taint the statistics.

Each question should be phrased so that all respondents interpret it the same way.

Listen to the majority, not the vocal minority. Everyone’s opinion counts, but making drastic changes for one person could alienate many others. You’ll never please everyone, so always use your best judgement.

User surveys can either be hosted on your own site, or on a third-party site like Survey Monkey where it can be perceived to be taken by a third party. Survey Monkey will host smaller surveys for free (up to 10 questions and 100 responses), or very inexpensively for larger surveys.